Ancient
image.]] The Ancient is an enemy and the final boss in ''The Consuming Shadow''. It can only be fought if the player has banished the correct god. Description Regardless of which god is being banished, the player will find themselves in a featureless room, highlighted in the god's color, opposite a shifting wall of darkness. This wall will slowly approach the player, and recoil when damaged (similar to the Overseer). Walking into the darkness or dying during this battle will kill the player, resulting in ending C. The Ancient's abilities are: * Summon lesser enemies to attack the player. The type of enemy summoned is dependent on the god's aspect: ** Pain: Floater. ** Madness: Two Worker Buzzers. ** Lust: Cougher. ** Disease: Small Puker. ** Fear: Soldier Buzzer. * Open large eyes anywhere in the room that isn't in the darkness, which cause static and have other negative effects. "Killing" the eye will stop the negative effect and cause the Ancient to retract slightly. The effects caused are dependent on the Ancient's aspect: ** Pain: Health rapidly drains, similar to how physical contact works with the Tall Man. ** Madness: Sanity drains rapidly. ** Lust: Pulls the player toward the Ancient. ** Disease: Puker vomit balls drop randomly from above the Player. ** Fear: Causes the anxiety status effect. * Cast magic (unknown which spell), using three runes. They appear on-screen in similar style to the Cultists, and behave the same way too, meaning if the player casts the same three runes, they will cancel out the Ancient. This results in a huge retraction, and will cause any tendrils that are latched onto the wall behind the player to detach and lower slightly. Failing to counter the spell draws the Ancient dramatically closer to the player character. * Stretch out tendrils that will latch onto the wall behind the player. Each tendril requires two normal damage melee strikes to "kill", which will cause them to retract. Each tendril latched onto the wall behind the player will increase the rate at which the god advances forward. Sometimes, these tendrils can be too high to hit, meaning that a bullet is necessary to hurt it; or from cancelling out the Ancien't attempt to cast magic, this may cause the tendril to lower when it retracts slightly. Killing the Ancient will result in either ending A or B, depending on the player's mental state. Tips for fighting Once one knows how to fight it, the Ancient is a fairly simple final boss. A player's first priority should be to stay to the left and get as far away from the Ancient as possible. Physical contact with the Ancient's invading main body at any point of time automatically triggers Ending C. The Ancient will come in from the right side of the screen. Destroy any eyes the Ancient summons, as they harshly impact visibility, cause a negative effect based on the Ancient's aspect and have relatively low health themselves. Players should also make sure they destroy tendrils as quickly as possible by attacking the round heads of the appendages. Melee attacks can destroy the tendrils easily. Tendrils may occasionally land outside of the player's attack range. The heads will move as the Ancient does, eventually putting them back into range. After a short time has passed, the Ancient will begin casting offensive spells, which can be countered with identical runes like the Cultist. Destroying tendrils and eyes, as well as countering the Ancient's spells, will cause it to recoil away from the player's position. Once the Ancient has been pushed back far enough, the game will prompt you to invoke the banishment ritual once more. In-game description There are few indeed who could claim to have personally faced an Ancient and lived, still fewer who escaped with their mind intact. Accounts exist of strange, illogical dimensions where a 'wall of darkness, like an immeasurable hole in reality' seeks to envelope intruders. Accounts indicate that some ungodly voice in the darkness chants incantations, and that the darkness can be temporarily fended off with the appropriate counter-incantations. Do not humour for an instant the possibility of killing a being so utterly incomprehensible; the most you can do is push it away. But push it far enough and an opportunity to escape may present itself. Trivia Category:Enemy Category:Boss